“Beat the Heat!” had a whole new meaning in a sweltering start to the NBA Finals. The San Antonio Spurs handled the conditions, and the team, and it sure helped when a suffering LeBron James couldn’t make it to the finish.

How do you follow up one of the greatest NBA Finals games in history? The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs did just that Thursday night with the greatest spectacle in sports, a Game 7, winner-take-all game at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

The NBA is more reliant on the 3-pointer than ever. Entering Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night, there had already been more 3-pointers made (1,171) and taken (3,414) than in any postseason in league history, and both were well ahead of the numbers posted last season.

The Miami Heat had no more mulligans left to play Tuesday night when Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals tipped off. It was either win, or the team was on a one-way trip to an early summer vacation. The Heat fought back from a double-digit lead and forced overtime where Miami held the Spurs off just enough to get a 103-100 victory which forces a Game 7 Thursday night.

The Spurs have long been the NBA’s gold standard when it comes to drafting and development, preferring to roll up their sleeves and scour the globe to find the right players to slot into well-defined roles in San Antonio.

Manu Ginobili ran onto the floor as fans stood and screamed. He went to the bench, and they chanted his name. The sights and sounds of so many San Antonio spring nights were back Sunday — and the real party might be just a few days away.

During the NBA Finals, one player often has to step up in a big way for his team to eventually hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy into the air. For the San Antonio Spurs, the player who has stepped up hasn’t been Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli or Tony Parker; instead, it’s been Danny Green.